Helen Clitherow Ellis

Published 11:50 am Monday, May 16, 2016

Helen Clitherow Ellis died May 12, 2016 at the age of 89 after an extended, brave, and hard fought battle with cancer.

Born October 1, 1926 in Grazier, Pa., she was and remained, a “Grazier Girl,” the proud daughter of a coal miner. She was one of seven children of Andrew and Susanna Prokop Semivan. She was the bedrock of her family, the mother and grandmother always there with support, wisdom, and comfort.

Helen was an active member of the Red Fox Country Club community in Tryon, N.C. for over 30 years and an avid and accomplished golfer.

Prior to her retirement from championship play in 1996, Helen achieved 26 championship wins:

Twelve at Inverness Country Club, Illinois; six at Turnberry Country Club in Chicago, Ill.; and eight championships at her beloved Red Fox Country Club in Tryon, N.C. She was a First Flight Women’s Senior Golf Association winner and scored an amazing and unprecedented six holes in one at Red Fox Country Club.

She is survived by her husband of 40 years and Word War II veteran Fred Ellis Sr., her son Randall W. Clitherow, Sr., also a veteran who jumped into Grenada with the 82^nd Airborne, and grandchildren Randall W. Clitherow, Jr., Brooke Daniels, and Carrie May, sisters Susana DePagter and Vern Sanders and five beautiful great grandchildren.

She was predeceased by her daughter Pam Abreu and sisters Mary Arsargos Ann Kanas, Margaret McCarthy and brother John Semivan. To each and every one of them, she was good counsel, a steady hand, a soft heart, a warm hug, and a safety net like only a matriarch can provide. In her latter years and at family gatherings, she never said goodbye to the loving family that gathered around her; she insisted they said only “So long.”

So …

So long, Helen, from all those you loved so dearly and so deeply and who loved you so much.

An online guest register is available at www.mcfarlandfuneralchapel.com.

McFarland Funeral Chapel
Tryon, N.C.